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In reply to the discussion: The beginning of the end? [View all]Leghorn21
(13,522 posts)America (seriously) - you have been through more than I could ever understand, and I hope this country has been good to and for you -
...the second night after the election, I saw Masha Gessen on Rachel Maddow - like you, she has been there/done that, and minces no words - she said we might "lack the imagination" (putting it kindly) to think such a scenario as you describe could actually happen here - her twitter account links to her various articles on Russia/US -
I also read Ned Resnikoff's article, and...have tried to...absorb it all...again, thank you for posting
Ms Gessen's twitter acct:
https://mobile.twitter.com/mashagessen?lang=en
Ned Resnikoff, November 27, '16
Bannon is a skilled practitioner of the darkness strategy, but he is not its inventor. The real Master of the Dark Arts is another Karl Rove equivalent: Vladislav Surkov, a top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Surkov, the documentary journalist Adam Curtis said in a 2014 film, is a hero of our time. He went on to describe the Surkovian method:
His aim is to undermine peoples perceptions of the world, so they never know what is really happening.
Surkov turned Russian politics into a bewildering, constantly changing piece of theater. He sponsored all kinds of groups, from neo-Nazi skinheads to liberal human rights groups. He even backed parties that were opposed to President Putin.
But the key thing was, that Surkov then let it be known that this was what he was doing, which meant that no one was sure what was real or fake. As one journalist put it: It is a strategy of power that keeps any opposition constantly confused.
A ceaseless shape-shifting that is unstoppable because it is undefinable. It is exactly what Surkov is alleged to have done in the Ukraine this year. In typical fashion, as the war began, Surkov published a short story about something he called non-linear war. A war where you never know what the enemy are really up to, or even who they are. The underlying aim, Surkov says, is not to win the war, but to use the conflict to create a constant state of destabilized perception, in order to manage and control.
Whole article here:
https://thinkprogress.org/when-everything-is-a-lie-power-is-the-only-truth-1e641751d150#.dxar2ac78